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CINCINNATI – The Virginia murder trial of a white nationalist rally participant accused of killing a woman during a counterprotest in Charlottesville in 2017, is scheduled to begin Monday.

James Alex Fields Jr., 21, of Boone County, Kentucky, also is charged with federal hate crime charges in U.S. District Court that could end up as a death penalty case.

Prosecutors say Fields killed one and injured dozens when he drove his car into a crowd of people protesting an Aug. 12, 2017, white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Heather Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville was killed.

Fields was photographed carrying a shield with a version of the white supremacist group Vanguard America's logo earlier in the day at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. He was part of a group of men in the photo wearing the organization's uniform of khaki pants and white short-sleeve collared shirts. Vanguard America denied Fields was part of the group, according to an article from The Tennessean, which like The Cincinnati Enquirer, is a part of the USA TODAY Network.

Fields faces 10 charges and a maximum of a life sentence in Virginia.

The jury trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court is scheduled to last for 18 days through Dec. 13, according to court records.

A year and three months later, we still have no idea what happened between the time Unite the Right was declared an “unlawful assembly” in Lee Park and the car crash at Fourth and Water Streets. Even the guys who were locked up with Fields in Charlottesville don’t know his side of the story. He was thrown in a dungeon and hasn’t been heard from since that afternoon:
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“CINCINNATI – The Virginia murder trial of a white nationalist rally participant accused of killing a woman during a counterprotest in Charlottesville in 2017, is scheduled to begin Monday.

James Alex Fields Jr., 21, of Boone County, Kentucky, also is charged with federal hate crime charges in U.S. District Court that could end up as a death penalty case.

Prosecutors say Fields killed one and injured dozens when he drove his car into a crowd of people protesting an Aug. 12, 2017, white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Heather Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville was killed. …”

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I had never heard of Fields until the car crash was on the news.

I didn’t run into him at the Unite the Right rally. We had left Charlottesville and pulled over at a Taco Bell to eat lunch when we heard about the car crash on Twitter. Initially, there was some speculation that someone else was responsible (Alex Jones and Gateway Pundit were sued for misidentifying the driver), but later in the day we found out it was Fields and that he had been at the rally.

We’ve heard that UNC professor Dwayne Dixon chased James Fields Jr. through Charlottesville with an AR-15. We know for a fact that Antifa was attacking groups leaving the rally. They attacked the League of the South at the Market Street Parking Garage. They attacked American Warrior Revolution and pinned them behind the Sultan Kebab restaurant. They pursued a group of NSM members across the downtown mall. They were chasing and attacking cars leaving the parking lot on Water Street.

Heather Heyer was with the group of Antifa who were throwing rocks at American Warrior Revolution. Courtney Commander recorded the assault on Facebook Live. She was later heard saying, “There’s about to be a war. Dem niggas goin to Garrett.” Shortly thereafter, Heather Heyer, Courtney Commander and Marissa Blair joined the group of Antifa who were parading down Water Street.

Why were Antifa allowed to parade through Charlottesville for over three hours after Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued his “State of Emergency”? Why weren’t the police clearing the streets and arresting people who were violating the “State of Emergency”? What happened to James Fields, Jr. during this three hour period? What was “the war” that “dem niggas” were going to before the car crash?

Hopefully, we will get some answers over the next few weeks. I will leave this discussion open for those who are following the trial can post updates in the comments.
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The quality of people I am reaching is much higher than I ever did with a forum.
I'm now at the top of the racialist intellectual community in the United States.
I was a nobody when I ran The Phora.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — On the first day of jury selection in James Alex Fields Jr.’s state murder trial, defense attorneys for the 21-year-old Ohio man indicated they might pursue a self-defense strategy.

Defense lawyer John Hill mentioned to the nearly 70 potential jurors that they could hear evidence that Fields thought he was acting in self-defense when he drove into a crowd of Charlottesville counterprotesters on Aug. 12, 2017, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others.

Hill then asked the members of the jury pool whether they believe violence is never an option in self-defense. None of the jurors indicated they believe violence is never an option.

A handful of witnesses to the deadly incident during last year’s Unite the Right white nationalist rally were present when Fields walked into the courtroom Monday morning, unshackled and wearing a blue suit. He appeared to be nervous as he glanced around the crowded courtroom during his brief appearance.

Judge Richard E. Moore drew 28 names from a box to begin the jury selection process and commence Fields’ three-week murder trial on 10 state charges: one count of first-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, three counts of aggravated malicious wounding, two counts of felonious assault, and one count of hit-and-run. Fields has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The maximum penalty on the state charges is life in prison, but a federal grand jury also indicted Fields on 30 hate crime charges, for which he could face the death penalty. The federal trial has not been scheduled.

On Monday, about two-thirds of the initial 28 prospective jurors raised their hand when the judge asked whether they already had an opinion about whether Fields is guilty. When pressed further, most of them indicated that they would be able to look set aside their opinions and decide the case on the evidence.

Earlier this year, Fields’ attorneys tried to move the trial to another venue, arguing that their client would not receive a fair trial with a jury of Charlottesville residents.

The motion remains under advisement, but the judge reiterated Monday that whatever decision the jury makes “must be based on the evidence” presented at trial.

“We’re trying to be as careful as we can for both sides of the case,” said Moore, who also asked the jury pool for its patience.

“What you’re doing is a service to the community,” he said.

Fields was arrested 15 months ago after his vehicle plowed into a crowd of demonstrators who were protesting the Unite the Right gathering. The white nationalist rally had been organized as a protest against the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Authorities ended the event prematurely, declaring it an unlawful assembly after a series of violent skirmishes broke out all around the downtown park where the statue sits. Fields had traveled from Ohio to participate in the rally.

Fields was photographed hours before the attack with a shield bearing the emblem of Vanguard America, one of the hate groups that participated in the rally, although the group denied any association with him. One of Fields’ teachers has said he was fascinated by Nazism and admired Adolf Hitler.

Pretrial hearings have offered few insights into Fields. A Charlottesville police detective testified that as he was being detained after the car crash, Fields said he was sorry and sobbed when he was told a woman had been killed. Fields later told a judge that he is being treated for bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and ADHD.

On Monday, both the defense and the prosecution read aloud a list of witnesses they intend to call, to allow for jurors to recognize personal conflicts. Among the names of victims, police officers, emergency responders and mental health experts was Dwayne Dixon.

Dixon, a professor at the University of North Carolina and a member of the loose-knit, left-leaning protest group antifa, has been a popular figure among far-right conspiracy theorists for comments he made regarding Fields.

At a guest lecture at Harvard University in October 2017, Dixon claimed to have “shooed” Fields away with his rifle shortly before the crash. Despite the lack of evidence connecting this event to the car attack, some have taken this as proof Fields was fleeing when his vehicle rammed into the counterprotesters.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The jury-selection process in the trial for an Ohio man charged with murder is moving slowly.

Roughly 360 people have been called to be potential jurors in the James Alex Fields, Junior trial. The 21-year-old briefly appeared in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Monday, November 26, before being taken behind closed doors.

Judge Richard Moore announced Monday morning that the defendant is now facing a total of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding. Each of these charges can carry a sentence of up to life in prison.

Fields is also charged with first-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and failing to stop at an accident involving a death. Prosecutors - Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph Platania and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony - say Fields was behind the wheel of a Dodge Challenger used in the deadly car attack following the Unite the Right rally on August 12, 2017. Heather Heyer was fatally struck, while 28 other people suffered injuries.

Fields’ court counselors are John Hill and former Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford. He has previously stated in court that he is receiving treatment for bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, and ADHD.

The lawyers and Judge Moore have spent the day asking groups of 28 people questions to gauge their knowledge of the case and opinions. They're asking basic qualification questions, such as if the person is a city resident, as well as if anyone in the jury pool has any personal connection to witnesses in the case.

"That's why they're asking questions, for example, ‘did you go to the scene where the car crash occurred to lay flowers?’ That would suggest an emotional commitment to the issue that would probably be hard to set aside. That’s the kind of thing they’re asking, trying to get to 16 people who are willing to consider both sides," legal analyst Lloyd Snook said.

Hill told a group of prospective jurors on Monday that the court will hear evidence that Fields "thought he was acting in self-defense."

“My guess is, what that tells us is that one of the things that is going to come up at the trial is James Fields was scared and he reacted out of fear. Now, that's not going to be a perfect self-defense case," said Snook.

The commonwealth is expected to argue that Fields acted with premeditation: Video shows a Dodge Challenger stopping roughly a block away from those marching in the area of Fourth and Water streets, reversing, but then going forward into them.

The jury-selection process is expected to continue throughout Tuesday, Nov. 27, and could go into Wednesday, Nov. 28.

The goal is to seat a total of 12 jurors and four alternates. Judge Moore described the number of alternates as “unusual” but necessary in this case. Jury trials tend to have two alternates.

Fields' trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court is scheduled to last a total of 18 days. He also faces dozens of federal charges for the same incident.

The first day of jury selection wrapped up after 6 p.m., and some people were asked to come back to continue the process on Tuesday.

(CNN)The trial of a man accused of killing Heather Heyer at a white nationalist rally in Virginia will include evidence that the defendant believed he acted in self-defense, his attorney told prospective jurors this week, according to CNN affiliate WVIR.

John Hill, an attorney for defendant James Fields, made the remarks in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Monday, the first day of jury selection in the case.

Fields, 21, of Maumee, Ohio, is accused of plowing his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counterprotesters during the August 2017 Unite the Right rally, killing Heyer and injuring several other people, police say.

Hill told prospective jurors that the court will hear evidence that Fields "thought he was acting in self-defense," WVIR reported.

The defense team also have asked the jury candidates if they believe violence is justified when acting in self-defense, WVIR reported.

Heyer, 32, was a local paralegal and had attended the rally to speak out against white supremacy and racism. Her friends and families say she died for her beliefs.

Fields stands charged with first-degree murder in Heyer's death. He also faces five counts of malicious wounding, three counts of aggravated malicious wounding and one count of failing to stop at an accident involving a death.

Clashes had erupted in Charlottesville on the morning of the gathering, forcing police to clear a park. The day was marred by pepper spray, screaming and fistfights, and before the rally could begin, police decided the protest constituted an unlawful assembly and Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared an emergency.

Fights continued to break out around the city. That afternoon, authorities say, Fields ran his car into the crowd.

Surveillance video showed a Dodge Challenger stopping about a block and a half away from the protesters, reversing, then driving into the crowd before speeding away in reverse.

Separately, Fields is charged with hate crimes in a 30-count federal indictment. Prosecutors in that case allege Fields espoused white supremacist ideals and denounced minorities on social media before traveling to Virginia for the rally. Once there, the indictment says, he drove his car into a crowd with the intention of hurting people he targeted based on his bigoted views.

Fields has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. It's unclear whether he has entered a plea to the state charges, though a trial would not likely be necessary if he had pleaded guilty.

Fields is being held without bail in the Albemarle/Charlottesville Regional Jail.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A jury is expected to hear conflicting versions of what happened during a deadly white nationalist rally in Virginia last year as an Ohio man accused of killing a woman and injuring dozens of others goes on trial.

James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, is charged with first-degree murder and accused of driving his car into a crowd of counterprotesters during a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017. Civil rights activist Heather Heyer was killed.

Fields' lawyer has indicated Fields may claim he was acting in self-defense. Prosecutors say he intentionally plowed his car into the group.

Opening statements are expected Thursday after a group of 28 prospective jurors is reduced to 16 jurors who will hear the case.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — After three days of jury selection, the first batch of witnesses to the deadly calamity in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017, were called to testify in court Thursday for the state murder trial of James Alex Fields Jr.

Speaking to the the newly impaneled jury, Marcus Martin was overcome with emotion as he tried to describe the horrific crash that killed his friend and left his leg broken.

Martin was among seven witnesses who testified Thursday. Four of them described in ghastly detail the injuries they suffered when Fields, now 21, drove into a crowd of counterprotesters at the Unite the Right white nationalist rally. Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal, was killed, and about 35 others were injured.

In the opening statements, the prosecution said it will show that Fields intended to kill and injure, and the defense said the Ohio man was simply acting to protect himself in fear for his life.

Charlottesville Senior-Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony asked Martin to project his voice as he settled into the witness stand, and offered him tissues as he tried to remain composed during his testimony about the fatal moment 15 months ago.

“I was looking at my phone … and then I pushed her out of the way,” Martin said of his then-fiancee, describing his actions seconds before he was hit by Fields’ dark gray Dodge Challenger and flung into the air.

Martin was able to save his fiance, who is now his wife, but a friend who was also struck — Heyer — died minutes later.

In a photograph of that moment that won a Pulitzer Prize, Martin can be seen suspended in the air, wearing a white T-shirt, khaki shorts and red and white sneakers.

Martin said his group had come downtown to join the many counterprotesters who had gathered to to demonstrate against the white nationalists who had converged on Charlottesville to protest the city's plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

In the prosecution's opening statement, Antony said Fields "took with him [Heyer's] blood and flesh on his windshield," but that the prosecution's main goal is to show to that Fields acted with malicious intent.

“This is not about what the defendant did; it’s about why he did it,” Antony said.

The prosecutor noted that twice before, Fields had posted photos to an Instagram account showing a vehicle plowing into protesters, and that he had come to participate in an inflammatory that was expected to turn to violent.

Defense attorney John Hill said in his opening remarks that the entire day was chaotic and that Fields was acting in self-defense when he drove into the crowd.

“We need to decide and show you whether it was an intentional act,” he said. “Was he in fear of death or bodily injury?”

Hill and Denise Lunsford, a former Albemarle County commonwealth's attorney who is also representing Fields, asked many of the testifying witnesses about the atmosphere that morning, and whether they witnessed any aggressive behavior later in the day before the crash.

Brian Henderson, an employee of Charlottesville's Department of Social Services, became emotional as he described trying to move out of the way of Fields' car. He said the crash severely damaged his left arm and broke four ribs, among other injuries.

"It's just frustrating. ... I wasn't fast enough," he said before describing his injuries and lingering complications from them.

Like others who testified Thursday, Henderson said the atmosphere moments before the crash was jubilant, one that marked a shift from the chaos that reigned before authorities declared the Unite the Right rally to be an unlawful assembly.

"It felt like you didn't need to have your guard up," Henderson said.

Brennan Gilmore, an activist and former Foreign Service officer who caught the crash on video, which was shown in court Thursday, said he decided to record the celebratory crowd moments before the violent encounter because it seemed to be a "memorable moment" worth capturing.

In this state trial, which is expected to last three weeks, Fields is facing one count of first-degree murder, eight wounding charges and a hit-and-run charge.

The maximum penalty on the state charges is life in prison, but a federal grand jury also indicted Fields on 30 hate crime charges, for which he could face the death penalty. The federal trial has not been scheduled.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Jurors are hearing testimony from witnesses and victims connected to the deadly car attack that occurred after the Unite the Right rally in downtown Charlottesville last summer.

A 12-person jury with four alternates – comprised of nine women and seven men, 15 are white and one person is black - was finally seated in Charlottesville Circuit Court Thursday, November 29, the fourth day in the James Alex Fields, Junior trial. [Click for coverage of Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3]

Fields is accused of murdering Heather Heyer and injuring dozens during a car attack on Fourth Street on August 12, 2017. Attorneys for the 21-year-old Ohio man do not dispute that Fields was behind the wheel when a Dodge Challenger struck people marching after the controversial and violent rally: Attorney John Hill said that the defense wants the jury to ask themselves if Fields' actions were malicious or not, and if it was done out of self-protection.

The commonwealth says this case is about Fields’ intent: Judge Richard Moore will be allowing posts from the defendant’s Instagram account, which includes a May 2017 entry described as pictures of a car driving into protesters.

“The commonwealth has to show an intent, has to show premeditation, and this would tend to show that three months ahead of time he was at least thinking about the notion that a car could be a weapon against liberal protesters,” legal analyst Lloyd Snook explained.

Testimony began Thursday afternoon with Michael Webster, who described seeing counter protesters waving flags and chanting "Whose streets? Our streets" while marching along Water Street. The witness said he and his girlfriend saw a Dodge Challenger slowly driving on Fourth Street, but then it came to a stop: The car couldn't go further down the street, because of the counter protesters, but there was nothing blocking it from reversing back up to Market Street. Webster told the court the car backed up, but then his girlfriend saw it speed forward into the crowd. After the impact, Webster said he and others helped people off the streets as the car drove backwards through the crowd again.

Marcus Martin of Nelson County was next called to the witness stand. He said he and his girlfriend - now wife - had joined in the marching on Water St. Martin pushed her out of the way, but was himself struck by the Dodge Challenger.

Brennan Gilmore began testifying after the court took an hour-long break. He told the jury that he was taking part in the counter protests, as well as documenting the day's events. Gilmore was already recording the crowd at Water St. and Fourth St. with his cellphone when he said he heard the sound of a car bottoming out. He continued to record after evading the car, saying that he tried to get the license plate number.

Gilmore’s video was shared with the jury.

The defense asked Gilmore if he saw bottles being thrown and fights breaking out during the rally. He said he did, but could not confirm if it was from both sides.

During opening statements, the defense claimed Fields was being given a hard time by counter protesters during the rally. Fields had brought a home-made shield, and was seen participating in support of Jason Kessler’s event with members of Vanguard America. Later, Hill said Fields' confusion over traffic flow led him to drive down Fourth Street. According to the defense, Fields saw someone with a handgun after hitting the crowd.

The fourth person to be called by prosecutors, Brian Henderson, described how he was badly injured by Fields’ car.

Henderson said he saw a car speeding toward him on Fourth St. He tried jumping out of the way, but was struck at the hip. As a result, the witness says he suffered from four broken ribs, missing toenails, and a severely-damaged arm. Henderson told jurors that he still has limitations to the use of his left arm.

A person identified as “Lisa Q.” - last named is being omitted for safety reasons – was next called to the witness stand. She told the court that she had met up with other counter protesters following the Unite the Right rally, and eventually ended up in the Water St. area.

Lisa said she began to hear screaming, but couldn't see anything. Lisa said she did not feel the initial impact, but was hit by a Dodge Challenger, and sent onto the roof of an adjacent car.

The sixth person called to the stand was Aubtin Huidsri, who was also a counter protester to the rally. Huidari said he suffered from concussion-like symptoms for weeks after the car attack. He recalls screaming, not being able to walk, then being in an ambulance, and waking up in a hospital.

Fields drove away from the scene. The Dodge Challenger was located and stopped a short time later by Charlottesville police, who took Fields into custody.

The commonwealth’s last witness of the day was Stephen Simalchik, who said he did not intend to participate in any protests on either side and attended the Unite the Right rally as a witness.

Simalchik recorded a group of individuals carrying shields and flags, chanting as they approached Fellini's restaurant on Market Street that day. He decided to re-watch that footage during the one-year anniversary of August 12th; that's when he said he recognized one the men in that shield-carrying group as James Alex Fields, Jr.

The defense asked Simalchik to describe the mood of the area at the time, and interactions between groups of protesters. The witness said he could not remember those details, but described the entrance to the park – then known as Emancipation Park - as a bottleneck.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph Platania raised an objection to the relevance of the interactions and mood during the moments after the rally. Judge Moore denied Platania's objection.

Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, was sitting in the courtroom Thursday. Gil Harrington, another mother who lost a child to violence, was also in attendance.

Court adjourned for the day a little before 6 p.m., and is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Friday, November 30.

The trial, which officially got underway Monday, November 26, is scheduled for a total of 18 days.

.CHARLOTTESVILLE — James Alex Fields Jr. backed his car up a hill before speeding into a crowd of counterprotesters, a photographer who captured the moment of the collision testified Friday at Fields’ state murder trial.

Ryan Kelly, who at the time worked for The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, said he was taking pictures at the violent white nationalist rally on Aug. 12, 2017, when he saw a gray Dodge Challenger reversing uphill on the one-way street at a pedestrian mall.

“I heard thuds, screams and cries,” said Kelly, who won a Pulitzer Prize for one of his photos, which showed bodies flying at the moment of impact.

Fields is accused of first-degree murder and other crimes. Prosecutors say he came from Ohio to Charlottesville and deliberately ran his car into the crowd, injuring dozens and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Fields is also facing federal hate crime charges, for which he could receive the death penalty.

Investigators said Friday that Fields had been in what is now called Market Street Park, formerly Lee Park, as part of the Unite the Right rally protesting the removal of Confederate monuments. He acquired a shield there and shouted homophobic chants at counterprotesters, investigators said.

Kelly described following a large crowd marching through downtown several hours after authorities declared the rally an unlawful assembly.

Kelly said he saw the vehicle accelerate the whole way toward the crowd, but defense attorney Denise Lunsford contested that account.

She said some of the images appeared to show his brake lights come on moments before he struck the crowd and ultimately rammed into another car that was stopped behind another vehicle in the middle of the crowd.

During redirect questioning, prosecutor Nina-Alice Antony had Kelly go through the images one by one — he took more than 70 photos in just a few seconds — to identify where they first showed brake lights. It was only after the photographs showed Fields’ vehicle colliding with the crowd that Kelly pointed to what he referred to as “reverse lights.”

Fields’ attorneys say that the violence that led to the cancellation of the Unite the Right rally caused Fields to fear for his life and that he was acting in self-defense when he drove into the crowd.

But an online picture Fields posted three months earlier is so eerily similar to his actions that day that prosecutors argue it helps show he planned the attack.

The image, posted publicly by Fields on Instagram on May 16, shows a car slamming into a group of people with overlaid text that says: “You have the right to protest, but I’m late for work.”

Four days earlier, prosecutors say, Fields sent a variation of the meme to a friend in an Instagram private message and wrote, “When I see protesters blocking.”

The online activity, prosecutors argue in a motion to allow the jury to see the Instagram evidence, shows Fields’ “intent, motive and state of mind.”

The jury also heard from several people who suffered debilitating injuries when they were hit by Fields.

Jeanne “Star” Peterson said she was walking with a crowd of counterprotesters who were feeling “celebratory” after violent clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters had prompted police to declare the Unite the Right rally an “unlawful assembly” and forced the crowds to disband.

She said she remembers hearing three bumps and realized later that two of the bumps were the sound of Fields’ vehicle’s tires driving over her leg and then backing up over it.

She said she saw a woman thrown into the air when she was struck by the car.

“I remember seeing her eyes,” Peterson said, adding that she thought to herself: “That’s what someone looks like when they are dead.”

She later realized the woman was Heyer, the 32-year-old Charlottesville resident who was killed.

Peterson said her right leg was crushed by the Dodge Challenger. Since then, she has had five surgeries and expects to have a sixth surgery next year. She used a cane to get into the courtroom and a wheelchair to leave, assisted by a sheriff’s deputy.

Another counterprotester, Wednesday Bowie, said she was walking with the crowd when she saw a flash of silver out of the corner of her eye. She recalled hearing a crash, “a loud booming noise,” she said.

She started running and then saw a car in front of her start to back up. She said she got caught on the trunk of the car, was slammed into a black truck parked nearby, and then thrown to the ground.

“I remember people screaming the word ‘medic’ over and over and over again, basically from every direction,” she said.

Bowie said her injuries included a pelvis broken in six places, three cracked vertebrae in her back, a broken tailbone, and a broken orbital socket.

Fifteen months later, she still cannot walk long distances or sit for a long period without being in pain.

The drivers of the two vehicles in the middle of the crowd also testified in court Friday, describing the people surrounding them as jubilant and celebratory.

One of the drivers, Tadrint Washington, told the jury that Fields’ car followed hers for several minutes as she tried to navigate through downtown before coming upon the crowd of counterprotesters.

She said many of the roads were blocked and she was unsure where she could go before turning onto Fourth Street, where the crash occurred moments later.

“I remember opening my eyes and seeing someone on my car,” she said, describing what happened immediately after Fields struck the back of her vehicle. “I started shaking all over my body.”
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